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NEW RELEASE - Introducing "To Wear a Heart So White"

 It is an absolute delight to announce the launch of To Wear a Heart So White: An Anthology of Historical Short Stories About Crime and Punishment . Seven stories, spanning almost eight hundred years, take readers on a journey into the crimes of yesteryear and the punishments they evoked. These stories come from the writers of the Historical Writers' Forum , and include a broad range of subgenres and styles, including a story for everyone. So let's meet the book... A cost for every action, and a price for every deed. The Historical Writers’ Forum proudly presents seven stories of Crime and Punishment, from across the ages. From an anchoress to a war hero; from Italy to Missouri; this anthology has a story for everyone. Included stories are: The Ignoble Defence - Virginia Crow Agatha’s Eyes - Rachel Aanstad A Pact Fulfilled - Eleanor Swift-Hook Carte de Viste - Ronan Beckman A Dish Served Cold - Brenda W. Clough Shadows of the Adriatic - Tessa Floreano A Dangerous Road -

#HistFicThursdays - The Paranormal and Supernatural - Writing Beyond the Senses


As a writer, you're increasingly told to show don't tell. It's one of those phrases which has infiltrated all lessons from the highest ranked authors to the little primary school child taking their first steps into writing. Ironically, there are now so many clichés in this particular idea that it is now becoming something of a cliché itself!

But one particularly significant area of inspiration and writing when this works at its best is when we are dealing with the supernatural. By its very meaning, the supernatural transcends the laws of nature. It's our job as writers of historical fiction not only to convey that but - and this is a real biggie! - to acknowledge and accept that these beliefs were true.

Belief in these ideas (which, at best, now get you labelled as quirky) was commonplace in history, and you need not look too far back to find them. According to surveys run ten years ago, 34% of people in the UK said they believed in ghosts, and 42% of people in the USA said the same. That level of belief in something beyond or parallel to the norm is still very present.

So, is it plausible to use this in historical fiction? Absolutely! And don't be talked into rebranding it as historical fantasy. If you have a character in Europe during the early Middle Ages, they will have believed so entirely in what the church told them, it will have been wholly true, right to the point that they would buy their way into heaven or light the pyre under anyone who dared to challenge their belief. Thinking beyond the church's teaching was often seen as the influence of the devil, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the devil did indeed have horns and a pointy tail.

But it was not just the church's views of things beyond the realm of normality which people believed in. Local areas had their own supernatural happenings. Local ghosts, black dogs, fairies, witches, you name it! And, as far as we as writers are concerned, they were all real. Why? Because they were real to our characters.

So, while Caledon is historical fantasy because it is the supernatural which changes the plot, The Year We Lived is not fantasy because the characters govern their own paths - albeit with their own strong beliefs in superstition and the paranormal. And writing both - or either - is equally as exciting!

What does this have to do with show don't tell? Well, by our definition, the rules of normality and nature cannot apply, so you can't possibly tell someone about it anyway! It would be like colour to a blind person: meaningless. Look for ways around the explanation of the experience. Emotions are great for this! You don't have to go into details about why your character feels a certain way, you only have to convey a connection between the character and your reader. Remember - research in this area is at least as important as research into the clothes/manners/foods/etc of the time, and it will tell you as much (or even more) about your characters.

And don't forget, a supernatural experience is usually a personal one. There are no rights or wrongs in how your character chooses to react.

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